Buffalo Sabres vs Washington Capitals Prediction, 1/24/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Buffalo Sabres vs Washington Capitals

Date: Sunday, January 24, 2021

Location: Capital One Arena in Washington, DC

TV: NBC Sports Washington

Odds/Point Spread: Sabres (-138) Capitals (+118)

Capital One Arena is the site where Vitek Vanecek and the Washington Capitals (3-0-2) will play the Buffalo Sabres (1-3-1) on Sunday. The odds on this contest have the Sabres priced at -138 and the Capitals are at +118. The O/U is set at 6.

The Sabres will look to clean up some issues after taking a 4 - 3 defeat against the Capitals in their previous contest. The Sabres offense didn't overly impress in this loss. For the game, they finished 3 out of the 27 shots they attempted. Additionally, they had 2 power play opportunities but didn't get a goal. Buffalo racked up a total of 4 penalty mins for this game. The Corsi for the Sabres was 51 and the Corsi against was 45 giving them a Corsi percentage of 53.1%. Their Fenwick sat at 41 while the Fenwick against sat at 34, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 54.7%. They earned 33 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 21 tries to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 43.3% and they had a PDO of 102.9 for this matchup. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Washington Capitals tallied a total of 32 shots. They had a total of 6 penalty mins and they had 1 power play chance.

The man looking after the goal for Buffalo is Carter Hutton from Savonlinna, Finland. He is 35 years old and has racked up 158 minutes protecting the net this season. Hutton is allowing 2.65 GAA which has him sitting 8th among East goaltenders and 14th in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he has surrendered 7 goals. He has a save % of .899 which has him sitting 9th among East goaltenders. So far this year, they have scored a total of 14 goals which ranks 6th in the conference and 12th in the league. Their goal differential is -1, ranking them 17th in the league. The Sabres currently have a total of 3 pts, which ranks 28th in the league and 15th in the East. In terms of shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 161 which ranks 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 7th in the league. As a group, Buffalo currently has a total of 98 hits which means they have an average of 19.6 per contest. They currently have a total of 47 blocks for this season.

In their win over Buffalo, Washington went home with a 46.9% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 45 while they surrendered a Corsi of 51. They had a Fenwick percentage of 45.3% by notching a Fenwick of 34 and the Sabres ending the game with a 41 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Washington played and they put on a good performance in this one. They had a PDO of 97.1 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 56.7%. The Capitals scored 4 goals of the 32 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 1 power play opportunity in this game but weren't able to notch a goal. Regarding their opponent, the Sabres had 2 power play chances but weren't able to take advantage of it. Washington allowed 27 shots on goal and the Sabres racked up 4 penalty mins.

In goal for Washington is Vitek Vanecek who is having a rough season by surrendering 2.90 GAA and that places him 11th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 19th in the NHL among goalies. In the 186 minutes he has played this year, he has allowed 9 goals. His save percentage is .898, which places him at 12th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 22nd in the NHL among goalies. When discussing goal differential, they are sitting 8th in the conference and 14th in the NHL with +2. They currently have a total of 18 goals for the season which puts them at 4th in the conference. Washington has a save % as a team of .887 which has them sitting 26th in the NHL, meaning there could be plenty of chances to score if they attack the goal. They are shooting 13.8% ranking them 3rd in the East.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Washington (+118)

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